Eddy House Outreach Team Meets Local At-Risk Youth Where They Are, a Photo Series

It’s a windy day near Wells Avenue at a main homeless encampment along the river. Austin Solheim, the Director of Outreach Engagement for the Eddy House, and his coworker Eric are checking in on a few youths and young adults the’ve been helping out.

“Our goal today is to go in and check on a few clients we have established relationships with,” said Solheim. He has built an outreach team of four people, including himself. In total there are 20 transitional youths he regularly looks for. In this particular area, he has established relationships with six clients. The Eddy House mission focuses on homeless and at-risk youth, ages 18 to 24 and works with them to develop life and job skills. What follows is a picture series by Our Town Reno photographer and reporter Richard Bednarski.

Matt has been homeless for about a year and has lived along the river for about six months. He says he lost his job working in a warehouse when the company was bought out by FedEx. Soon after that, he says he lost his residence. This was the second time he lost his job and housing. “Me and my husband are trying to get off the street ‘cause, well, let’s face it, this sucks,” explained Matt, a client of the Eddy House Outreach team. “Trying to find an affordable place is damn nigh impossible,” he said with frustration. The Eddy House Outreach team is helping him replace his identification at the moment. Matt wants the community to “give us a chance. There are a lot of us out here, like me and my husband who are trying to get off the streets. Trying their best, ‘cause it’s not easy.” 

The Eddy House has been in their new location for about a year. They have 20 residents who live here as they get their lives on track for more independence. Their network of housing, built through partnering with other community organizations, is able to house about 80 youth in need in emergency situations. The two level building on Willow Street, just west of the Renown Regional Medical Center, has this clothing room where youth can find clothes to replace dirty and ragged ones. There is also a set of nicer business clothes available for interviews. 

The first floor of the new location is a large common area surrounded by offices, bathrooms, and a small kitchen. On staff are three case workers to help individuals get identification documents and find stable work as well as housing. The Eddy House also has a marriage and family counselor on staff to help with any issues that might arise.

“We were able to go 24 hours,” explained Solheim of expanding to overnight capabilities since January last year. The bottom floor of the Eddy House features two large rooms where individuals can sleep. This room features the overflow and emergency sleeping area. Behind the glass windows are actual bunks, with storage, for the longer term residents in transition. 

Located right next to the entrance is this job board where youth can come in and find available jobs. And if they do not have clothes for the interview, the clothing room downstairs has a section devoted to business and professional attire. 

The outreach team is a group of four employees who go out about two or three times a week. Solheim wants to increase outreach to include two outings every day. Currently, they divide their time up to reach out to youth across the area, with some clients in Carson City. Once they meet with a client, the outreach team works towards getting them to the Eddy House where they can sleep, shower, eat and be in a safe location. Solheim hopes to expand the program to include all of northern Nevada and parts of northern California. He is also working to establish a transportation network to help clients get to the Eddy House.

Healthy nutrition is often neglected when people live without stable shelter. People will take handouts they receive and purchase the cheapest food available. The Eddy House has a volunteer supported meal program where the community can sign up and provide meals for around 40 people during the week. They never waste the food, making sure it all gets eaten through leftover nights and taking it over to other homeless in the area.

As snow recently melted, Solheim and Eric approached a tent to check in on a client. They learned from another person that the young woman they are looking for recently moved into a hotel. Solheim said homeless youth sometimes will pool resources and rent a room for a week to get out of the elements, shower, and create a sense of normalcy, if only for a week. 

The outreach team has a vehicle that allows them to get further out into the community. This vehicle also allows them to get out to homes of youth who may be on the verge of homelessness.

As a woman works on her bike chain, Solheim learns about her story. He believes it is important to have a conversation with people to learn more about their individual circumstances. “Just be open to new ideas,” Solheim said. “Be open to what we learn and try something new. There’s not one solution for every person. There’s a billion solutions out there and one of those solutions is going to fit every person,” Solheim said, always remaining hopeful. He says the goal is to find individual solutions for each person rather than a standardized approach. 

Solheim has been using the first few months of the Outreach program’s existence to build a map of clients, collect data, and establish a working plan for the summer. Currently, he and his team check in on clients about every two or three weeks. The primary goal is to find out what barriers are holding people back and how he can help them get into the Eddy House and on a path towards a job and stable housing. “We don’t want to be a cookie cutter program,” said Solheim.

Reporting and Photography by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

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New Protest Movement for Unhoused Begins in Reno

Waiting for the Next Step after Motel Voucher Program Seemingly Gets New Lifeline

“Currently, we are hanging out to see what happens and gauge the next step,” Erika Minaberry, an advocate for the houseless and a member of RISE said of the new protest movement on Tuesday afternoon.

Red and black flyers shared on social media earlier called it an “Occupy City Plaza” movement, demanding an end to police sweeps and asking for the establishment of a “sanctioned, autonomous safe camp.” The flyer also said it was to “provide a protective barrier around more than 50 women who have been evicted from temporary housing in motels.”

The Washoe County funded program was set up a few months ago through reimbursements to RISE. It’s to help some of the women on the waiting list at the new shelter for women, Our Place. That campus between Glendale and 21st Street run by the non-profit is already full. Yesterday an anonymous source told Our Town Reno RISE had run into cash flow problems to keep the program going, and were funding it themselves in emergency at least for last night.

“RISE does not have the resources to pay for motel rooms up-front,” Bethany Drysdale, the Media and Communications Manager for Washoe County, emailed us this morning. “However, Washoe County is working directly with lodging providers in the region to ensure that no one is deprived of shelter. We mirror the federal commitment to keep people housed, and will utilize FEMA reimbursement for motel vouchers.” Our anonymous source confirmed this was the case.

Drysdale also pointed us to the January 21, 2021 White House memo entitled “Memorandum to Extend Federal Support to Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Increase Reimbursement and Other Assistance Provided to States.”

A sign in table was set up and new donations were sought out. Photo by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno.

A Community Steps Up amid Winter and Shelter Uncertainties

The new movement comes as RISE long an advocacy movement has now also moved into coordinating part of the region’s shelter services with Our Place. It also closely follows a donation drive which led others being extended motel vouchers during a recent string of snow storms. Ground has been broken on a new super shelter at the old Governor’s Bowl location to be called the Cares Campus, but even though a media day for that is being planned for next month, there seems to be a lot of work left to do there.

Plans include a possible area for safe camping. Many people we interview without shelter repeatedly complain local shelters are for the most part too high barrier, with too many rules, too early forced wake ups, and too many restrictions on couples, presence of pets and amount of possessions one can have.

Safe camps and safe parking spaces have long been advocated to decriminalize those without stable shelter when they feel unsafe in regular shelters, unwanted there, or when the shelters are full.

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

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UNR's Marczynski Student Emergency Fund Assists Growing Group of Students in Need

“I’ve never seen so many students in need”

“The last five years have been pretty intense when it comes to financial stress to students,” explained Sandra Rodriguez, the director at the Center for Student Engagement. Back in 2009, amidst one of the worst economic recessions, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada (ASUN) began noticing students dropping out of school and they wanted to find a solution. 

The president of the student body government created a fund to help students overcome periods of financial and/or emotional duress. Money was placed into a special account dedicated to assisting students who were struggling to make ends meet.

The former Associate Vice President of Student Life, Gerald Marczynski oversaw the fund, giving it its name. Along with his wife, Cynthia Marcyznski, the Director of the Counseling Center, the duo “were amazing about helping out students in need,” said Rodriguez. They helped students through trials of food insecurity, mental health troubles, and financial insecurity. Flash forward ten years and both Marczynskis retired in the summer of 2019. This was when the ASUN decided to make a greater effort to expand the fund and it formally became the Marczynski Student Emergency Fund.  

“As the cost of higher education goes up, I’ve never seen so many students in need,” Rodriguez said. She has over 30 years of experience working with students in higher education. She emphasized the needs are legitimate; things like housing, food, glasses, and prescriptions are all being requested. These are the tools helping students succeed in their academic endeavors. Since last year, the fund has grown immensely and she says has been a lifeline for many students in need. 

Results from the past three Civic Engagement Surveys at UNR show food insecurity by ethnicity; people of color are most affected over the past four years. Graphic shared by Center for Student Engagement with permission to use in this article.

A Quarter of Students Face Food Insecurity

“As of this last week, we’ve already had 90 applications for that account,” said Rodriguez, referring to the first week of the Spring semester. The pandemic has placed a seemingly boundless amount of stress on students. Every two years the university conducts a Civic Engagement Survey and last year, nearly 4000 students responded. The past three surveys, 2016, 2018, and 2020 have shown that nearly a quarter of students face food insecurity. 

Furthermore, students of color are more likely to be food insecure and face financial duress, compared to white students. As of the fall 2020 survey, 30% of students were uncertain that they could pay for tuition and fees for the current semester. Because of this the ASUN has also boosted both its Pack Provisions food pantry program and the Marczynski Student Emergency Fund. They have also begun targeting groups more likely to face financial and food insecurities. 

As the reach of the pandemic widens, the emergency fund is being put to the test. Rodriguez explained that any university student experiencing an emergency can apply for this fund. It begins with a quick survey found here. Once students fill out the short form they will be contacted within 24 to 48 hours for an expansive face-to-face, COVID safe interview by a member of the Dean of Students Office. 

“They work with the student to try and not only bridge the gap but then to connect them to resources that will help them get through the entire semester and get them back on track,” said Rodriguez. The assistant dean will look over the student’s work and seek to clearly understand the underlying problem for the student. 

There is a level of intense intervention that goes into play along with the funding. Counselors will look at all resources available to the student for ways to boost their success. Is there financial aid available? Are there campus jobs? 

“How successful is a student going to be if they can’t have the books they need to go to class,” questioned Rodrigeuz. The Dean of Students knows these emergencies can be the hair on the camel’s back for students. It becomes a choice of paying for tuition or eating. “That’s the value of the intrusive discussion between the Assistant Dean and the student in need,” said Rodriguez. Usually the need for financial assistance is immediate and because of this the turnaround time for receiving aid is oftentimes less than three days, rarely a full business week. In addition, during the application process, the Dean of Students will reach out to the involved parties to let them know of pending assistance.

Funding the Fund

The initial annual allotment of funds comes from the student government body and is around $43,000. As of December 2020, the ASUN was able to place another $57,000 in the fund. Money that would have gone towards various programming in a non-pandemic world, was redirected into relief funds, including the Marczynski Student Emergency Fund. Alumni Relations and Institutional Advancement also help run a fundraiser campaign every year to increase the fund’s value. 

“It is just amazing how generous the community has been,” said Rodriguez “in particular we’ve also had businesses who have found out about this campaign.” This campaign is currently underway and can be found here. At the time of our interview, the fundraiser had brought in almost $22,000. Rodriguez went on to explain that many donations have been between one and two thousand dollars. She explained there was no way ASUN could have kept up with the increased need the pandemic created. 

“You never know when we’re gonna find ourselves in need,” said Rodriguez. “I just really want the community to know of the existence of this fund and the fact that it’s named after two people who devoted 40 years in higher education to helping students in need, the fund exists, it is in place here to get the students through a rough patch.”

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

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A New Type of Toilet from Portland on the Truckee River

From Portland to Reno, Conceived to Withstand Abuse

The Reno Restroom project began with the idea to provide restrooms to anyone utilizing the Truckee River path, including people without stable shelter who often gather in areas along the water.

“There’s a lot of people, all involved,” said John Enloe, the project manager from Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA), of the process of getting just one of these Portland conceived bathrooms operational.

Enloe explained Renown Regional Medical Center provided a lot of in-kind contributions as well as financial aid. Other funding organizations include the collaborative organization called One Truckee River, the Washoe County Health District, and the City of Reno. Enloe said there is a long term goal to install 18 more of these types of restrooms on the path between Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake, even though it could be a while before a second one is installed.  

The Portland Loo was initiated in that city over ten years ago. According to its own website, the Portland Loo “has proven to be a durable and inexpensive solution to keep your city clean and crime-free.”

It’s not without its detractors though. According to the Portland Loo Wikipedia age, one police officer called it "(former Portland city commissioner) Randy Leonard’s crack house right there" and "a favorite nighttime destination for drug dealers and prostitutes, who conduct their business behind its closed door." This is a similar refrain to what some people say happens in Reno’s motels.

Enloe said another organization, the Truckee River Fund, which has money from water service rate payers, provided One Truckee River, a grant of almost $125,000 to begin the project here. Each restroom will cost a couple hundred thousand dollars and be connected to the existing water and sewer systems here in the Truckee Meadows. “A bathroom on steroids, if you will.” said Enloe.  

The restroom is open to the public during mostly daytime hours and available year round via a key code that unlocks the door. Smoking and vaping are not allowed inside, and it reopens after ten minutes of use.

“Designed to discourage less than savory acts”

Designed to be nearly indestructible and graffiti proof, these “Portland Loos” are constructed from special coated-stainless steel which also makes them easy to clean with a hose. The open wall panels allow anyone to see how many occupants are inside, helping to reduce crime and loitering. However, the slats are below knee level and above shoulder height and angled in a way that provides privacy. 

The toilets operate with low voltage, in fact low enough to be powered by solar panels. “It’s not a place people can hang out in,” explained Enloe. “It’s designed to discourage less than savory acts.” The plumbing is all wrapped with a heating element to prevent freezing in the cold winter months. At night, a small light illuminates the outside but switches to an interior light when occupied. 

Enloe said those without stable shelter have become some of the main users of the restroom, even though on a recent cold day, no one showed up to use it over a twenty minute period. “We are getting a tremendous response,” he said. “The response from the community that’s using them has been very positive.”

The restroom includes hand sanitizer, a sharps disposal, and a baby changing station. The open air design helps keep the facility’s odors down and ensures easy cleaning.

Trying to Keep the River Cleaner

“I think everybody is optimistic,” said Enloe about the community’s response to the restroom. “I’ve been on that bike path and been wondering, when’s the next restroom.” Enloe hopes the addition of these public restrooms will ultimately keep the river cleaner and safer for the community, leading ultimately to more use from the public. Anything that goes in the river, TMWA has to take out, Enloe said. Everything from soda to human waste, TMWA has to treat and remove in order to keep the quality of the water drinkable, something nearly half a million people benefit from.  

“Right now there are two more in the work,” noted Enloe. “We’re just finalizing the locations.” Potential locations include one closer to downtown and one near the end of Reno and the beginning of Sparks. These two restrooms, which will further serve the homeless community could be up and running within the next year if all goes according to plans. Enloe though anticipates the ongoing pandemic could cause delays. However, he says the funding has been secured and the final stage of design and selecting location is underway. 

Located on the outside is an easy to use handwashing station ensuring proper sanitization. This also decreases the amount of time people spend inside.

A Needed Amenity

“We really just want to prove it out and see that they’re used and that they’re practical,” said Enloe. He hopes the community will treat them well while utilizing them because that means less human waste will go into the river. “I think it’s a needed amenity,” Enloe said, “I think it’s better for everybody and better for the community.”

Other communities recently taking on Portland Loos as well include Athens, Georgia, Sacramento and Astoria, Oregon.

The blue light inside the typical Portland Loo is supposed to make it difficult for intravenous drug users to find a vein for injection, but alleged vandalism, drug use and drug deals inside bathrooms were one reason Chico abandoned a project for 24-hour downtown bathrooms. Reno’s first free Portland Loo is open just 12 hours.

Our Town Reno Reporting by Richard Bednarski

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Donors, RISE, Mutual Aid Group and Washoe County Step up with Motel Vouchers

Mary Gilbert and Wendy Wiglesworth have set up a sign up table at Deer Park so people in need can get newly available vouchers to sleep at motels until at least the end of the month, amid raging snow storms and freezing nights.

A Pressing Need, and Help Arrives

“So yesterday we received, a really huge donation from a semi anonymous donor, right and his goal was to match up to $20,000 in donations that were made through Facebook. As of this morning, we exceeded over $21,000 just from Facebook donations, as well as $10,000 from the private donor, which is included in the $21,000. Math is not my strong suit. People are my strong suit,” explained Mary Gilbert, who is part of the Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality group known as RISE.

The donor has been identified on the Reno / Sparks Mutual Aid group as Patrick Sean Carter. He lists himself on Facebook as a “Poker Donk Extraordinaire. Derivatives price strategist” with a picture of himself leading a dog sled. We tried to friend him for an interview but did not hear back from him immediately.

RISE also operates the recently established Our Place shelter, on the corner of 21st St. and Glendale Ave., which currently has 102 beds for women. More than 50 women on the wait list for Our Place have already been given vouchers to stay at motels until the end of the month with money provided through a Washoe County program.

“Yesterday, our team started getting a little bit scared and stressed and worried that people were going to die in these elements,” Gilbert said of all the thousands of other people in our area sleeping in tents, cars, and along railroad tracks, alleyways, the Truckee River, and other hidden spots. “[Then] we received a call from one of the members of our team who let us know that she spoke with someone who wanted to donate $20,000 to get people into motel rooms and keep them out of these really gnarly, scary, unsafe elements. So as of last night, we in a rush got eight hotel rooms and we housed 12 adults and eight dogs. And as of today, we're hoping to at least triple or quadruple that.”

RISE has set up a table with forms for anyone who wants to get enrolled in the new program. Volunteers can gather there to help as well or spread the word that the informal intake center is at Deer Park. Recent figures have pointed to over 7,000 people in northern Nevada without stable shelter. Many avoid shelters saying there are too many rules and requirements, and that staff are not friendly. The new Our Place shelter for women is totally full.

“Basically at this point they just need to come down, bring their stuff,” Gilbert said of those who want to get a voucher. “We're hoping that some of the volunteers will be able to assist them with rides. We'll be doing like a quick intake process to make sure that they will be safe there. We'll also be providing them with local resources that might benefit them a little bit more than a temporary stay in a motel.”

Forms are ready for people to fill out if they want to get a free no questions asked motel room today through tomorrow at Deer Park in Sparks between F and 18th Street. “They are good for anyone. We are trying to get everybody as safe as possible and out of these elements as soon as possible,” Gilbert said of the vouchers. No ID is needed, and pets are welcome into certain rooms.

A Moment and Hope for Lasting Change

An Econo Lodge and a few Motel 6s have agreed to accept the vouchers, as well as other locally owned motels.

“We are currently trying to find additional places that are willing to house folks,” Gilbert said. “So far, we have reached out to the casinos in downtown Reno and they are not willing to house our unsheltered neighbors on a large scale.”

Wendy Wiglesworth who lived on the river herself has been doing outreach along the river, since late last night, to let people know of the emergency motel opportunity. Gilbert is hopeful this will start a new trend of caring and generosity for the unhoused in Reno.

“Honestly my hope is that this is just the beginning, that this is the catalyst that causes the community to start putting more money towards these things. My hope is that this starts like a chain reaction of folks wanting to donate more and more so that eventually we can get to a point where we can purchase our own place and, and be able to house folks on a regular basis instead of it only being for emergencies.”

Gilbert hopes with new money on hand they will be able to get over 20 rooms for a month. “Our hope is that with creative solutions that we can house more than 22 folks, for a much longer amount of time, we're creative, we're resilient, just like our unsheltered neighbors. This doesn't stop after the cold goes away. Community mutual aid has been something that we've been seeing a lot more of since the pandemic started. Regardless of the person they deserve shelter, more food and safety, and it's not just a city problem. It's not just a County problem. The reality is that we can't do anything without our community. It’s important to meet people where they're at never tell people that they should or shouldn't do something. It's walking with our neighbors and yeah, making sure that they're safe and feel welcome and make sure that they can trust us.”

Our Town Reno Reporting by Richie Bednarski on January 28, 2021

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Aric Coward, Housed By a Friendly Neighbor after being Pepper Sprayed at Shelter

Paula McDonough Offers A Free Room and Assistance

“I'm just confused why our government does that to people that can't do for themselves anymore,” Aric Coward said as he reflected on his overall situation, hoping he could get more than the $800 disability Social Security check he receives monthly. A problem getting that money for a few months led to a tailspin of going to the shelter, and then being pepper sprayed in the face when he says he didn’t get out of bed fast enough, moving slowly after three strokes.

We caught up with him sitting in the downtown Reno book-lined apartment living room of Paula McDonough, who has graciously offered him a free room for a while after hearing what happened to him.

“I was on a mat, I got pepper sprayed, I couldn’t see anything,” Coward remembers.

He says since then no one from the shelter or city has reached out to him to see how he’s doing. Advocates for the unhoused paid him a hotel room then a motel room and then McDonough offered free lodging at her place at the Arlington Towers on Arlington Ave..

“Houselessness has been an issue I've been involved with for at least 40 to 45 years,” McDonough, a former auditor in the casino industry, who has volunteered at shelters, told us during our visit. “It's nothing new to me.”

McDonough has long done whatever she could do to help the local community without stable shelter. To her, it was the least that could be done. McDonough said Coward is more than welcome to stay until he turns 65 in October and will be eligible to receive more Social Security and Medicare. She is currently working with local organizations to find him affordable housing and helped him get on several waiting lists, including for the Washoe Mills apartments, which have low-income rental assistance programs. 

Coward’s favorite pastime, he says, is walking along the Truckee river path, which he can now see from his room.

Seeking Legal Recourse

“He did say that his vision seems to be a little off, since he got pepper sprayed,” said McDonough, sitting in front of an unfinished puzzle. Coward is unhappy about the whole incident and wants to seek legal retribution. However, he was recently told by Washoe Legal Services he would not have a case unless there were expenses accrued as a result of being pepper sprayed. They suggested he seek justice through a personal injury attorney.

McDonough says she is working with her optometrist to see if they can check Coward for any damage to his vision that may have occurred from the pepper spray attack.

“I’m hoping that everybody can survive the year with everything that’s going on,” he said hinting at a bit of optimism. “Things like this should not go on. The city should not have any kind of dealings with these people that, you know, allow things like this to happen,” Coward said. “My main concern is I don't want this to happen to anybody else.”

Before driving Freightliners, Coward says he worked as lead custodian for the Cal Neva Casino. He really enjoyed the work but after a while came to realize it was not for him. He drove trucks for some time until he could not work anymore. He says he suffered one of his three strokes while driving, fortunately not hurting anyone. With a now mostly useless left arm and poor mobility, he has since struggled, but is grateful for all the help he is now receiving from compassionate neighbors and advocates for the unhoused.

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno in January 2021

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Lauren and Megha, High Schoolers Sharing the Warmth

From Blankets to Sustainable Help

When Lauren Adajar, now 15, was challenged two years ago in eighth grade by her teacher Ashley Ingle to come up with a project to make a difference, she came up with a blanket drive. 

“The topic I looked into was the housing crisis,” she remembers.  “I ended up doing some research and eventually what I came up with was a blanket drive, which looking back seems like a simplified version of trying to make a change. It’s very short term and not super sustainable but I saw a need and wanted to try and fill it,” she said. 

Adajar distributed the blankets she had collected, along with clothing and hygiene items, through a RISE event on 2nd Street.  “That was the first time I looked poverty in the eye,” she told Our Town Reno during a recent interview. “I spent several hours talking to this line of people that stretched well beyond the end of the block. I heard their stories. I was able to make connections. I was feeling completely overwhelmed. After the distribution, I sat in my room crying for an hour because I couldn’t handle what I had seen. I think that experience was important because it was the first exposition to this topic and these people. Poverty in general is a very hidden issue. I made the realization I wanted to do more. It shook me to my core.” 

Adajar has now teamed up with a school mate at Davidson Academy, Megha Tenneti, 14, who is a 9th grader.  Both had older siblings at the prestigious school for highly gifted students.  

Together they have created a Davidson Academy chapter of MEDLIFE, an international organization with roots in Peru, which provides medicine, education and development for low income families around the world.  Adajar’s sister is part of the UNR chapter.  

Tenneti’s personal drive to help the poor started in India where she visited her family as a child.  “You go on the streets and there’s just rows of homeless people. It was really heartbreaking to see.  I thought I couldn’t do anything,” she said. 

Now she does her research and makes frequent presentations.  “We have Powerpoints and lectures to educate people on the plethora of issues surrounding the cycle of poverty and that way everyone has an idea of how we can volunteer the best we can. We plan on becoming more action based after the pandemic starts going down a little,” Tenneti said. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, our interview was done over Zoom.

Inspired by Others, Seeking to Create a Youth Movement

Tenneti was also inspired by another school mate who started an organization to combat menstrual  inequalities called Red Equity.  In Reno, she also volunteers with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and RISE.

“Society treats [the poor] like they are … trash. It’s disgusting. They’re just normal people with experiences and we want to connect with them,” Tenneti said during our Zoom interview. “I wanted to focus on getting rid of those stigmas so that people can be comfortable and not have stigmas against a population. They are people and we can’t dehumanize them. We can’t treat them as less than.  We need to help them to create an environment of equality and equity. We need to look at ourselves as a community rather than ignoring them.” 

Moving forward, the two teenage students want to turn their initiative into a movement using social media and in person events.  Adajar has been using the #spreadthewarmth hashtag.

They want to unite students their age, “high schoolers who maybe don’t know the realities that some people are forced to face but want to know what lies beyond their bubble of privilege” Adajar said. 

“A lot of people are scared to reach out to local shelters,” Tenneti said of what blocks some high schoolers from also making an effort.

Tenneti is also thinking of reaching out to students struggling locally, even more acutely during the pandemic.

“We’re so privileged to go to this school and have this education that I think our whole goal is to basically educate ourselves, and how people our age, live in motels and don’t have access to proper education, have the resources they need. We’re getting out of our bubble.  We need to break out of it and recognize everyone,” she said. “We should also create safe environments where young students can get the resources they need.”

Right now, they are also organizing a new blanket drive, and even ready to pick up blankets from people wanting to donate directly.  They are open for messages on their Instagram which is called damedlife.

“There’s a long way to go, and we’re not trying to be like know it alls,” Adajar said to conclude our interview.  “We definitely don’t know everything and there’s things we will never know from our place. We’re trying to do the best we can to help people, to provide sustainable support and not make it a one and done situation.”

Our Town Reno Reporting

Sarah Blithe, Addressing Inequality and Enduring Stigma in Brothels and Legal Sex Work

Local Revelations, Academic Interests and Teamwork Lead to Award Winning Book

Sarah Blithe is no stranger to inequality and disparity in the workplace. As an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Nevada, Reno since 2012, her studies often involve how people’s identities can affect how they’re treated by their employer. A major and recent focus of her studies resulted in the release of Sex and Stigma: Stories of Everyday Life in Nevada’s Legal Brothels, which keeps winning her awards and also helps in court cases.

“I thought [brothels] would be a fascinating place to study,” Blithe said in a recent Our Town Reno interview, looking back on her work’s trajectory. “So we called the brothels and did participant observation in many brothels across the state. We did interviews with sex workers, brothel owners and other people who were involved like bartenders and security people. That led us to just this really fascinatingly rich study that has carried on for a few years now.”

Published in January 2019, Sex and Stigma has since received five national and academic book awards. Blithe’s book, co-authored with Anna Wiederhold and Breanna Mohr, was the culmination of a research project that began in 2013. 

The idea for the project started when Blithe attended camel races in Virginia City with her children in 2012. While her kids were up front looking at the camels, Blithe saw a work email with a call for articles on hidden organizations by the Management Communication Quarterly journal.

“I thought, ‘Wow, that's so cool, I wish I had something to study,’” Blithe said. “The announcer was also making really lewd comments about the women riding the camels and I realized that that particular race was sponsored by one of the brothels. I was new to Reno at this point and I thought, ‘Gosh, this is really interesting and maybe I should study the brothels. It fits in with my interest in organizations and gender inequalities.”

Blithe then paired up with Wiederhold, an expert in community organizing who was also at UNR at the time. They started their data collection efforts in 2013 and after a full year of research, an interesting development occurred with the project. 

“I was working with one of my undergraduate students at the time and I asked her if she would be my research assistant because she was just a standout student and a remarkable writer,” Blithe said of when she offered a list of research projects she was looking for help on. “She then said, ‘Well, I really want to work on the brothel one, but you should know that I worked there.’”

Although the first round of data collection happened before the student came on, she was then included as a full co-author on the project. 

“After our student came in, she decided she wanted to do some additional interviews with people who had left the brothels,” Blithe said. “She then facilitated a second round of data collection where we spoke with women who worked [in the brothels], but then left and were doing something else for whatever reason.” An auto ethnographic chapter written by the student was also included in the published book. 

Book Makes Appearances in Recent Court Cases

Since publication, Blithe has been impressed by the different ways her research has been used within the legal sex work industry. 

“Since publication, our book has been used in some of the court hearings about whether or not brothels should have a ‘lock-down’ policy,” Blithe said, referring to the practice of women being unable to leave brothel grounds while under contract. “In the book we argue pretty strongly that lockdown is illegal and a discriminatory practice that some of the brothels do. I feel the best outcome of the book is that now in almost all of the brothels, there is no lockdown policy anymore.”

A key point in disputing traditional lockdown policies is that legal sex workers are independent contractors, not employees. 

“This means that whoever is contracting their services, doesn't get to tell them when or how many hours they work,” Blithe said. “[Workers] can't leave at all for the time that you're on contract, which might be two weeks and for one woman I met, it was three years. They can go outside, they could be on the brothel ground, but they have these rules that restrict their movement and their mobility.”

Another outcome from the book’s publishing was its use as evidence to support that human or sex trafficking isn’t happening in the brothels. 

“Nevada is the only place with legal brothels so this is not just a local concern, but I would say there's a [national] concern that there's trafficking happening in the brothels,” Blithe said. “But our research did not find any evidence of trafficking. It's certainly not widespread or rampant as people who are anti-brothel would suggest.”

Blithe does point out that sex trafficking is a significant problem in our society, but reaffirms that it’s not as prevalent in legal sex work, as opposed to illegal sex work. 

“There’s a bit of a moral panic going on about sex trafficking and it is a real problem,” Blithe said. “But it's just not as associated with legal sex work as it is with illegal sex work. In the illegal [sex work] context, it's a different version of the same occupation, so I would say that was one myth that our research dispelled a bit.”

Long Term Stigma and Complexities

A main finding of the book was revealing the stigma long attached to the women who work in the brothel, while brothel owners are elevated as quasi-mythical figures.

“There are businesses who won't work with [female sex workers], they sometimes have a hard time getting car loans, housing applications approved, that sort of thing,” Blithe said. “At the same time, the brothel owners are kind of like celebrities, they actually enjoy a positive status associated with their role. One of our main findings was looking at the way that stigma isn't applied equally across all people who are associated with brothels.”

Another thing that stood out to Blithe was the variety of transferable skills utilized by the women involved in legal sex work, yet the stigma from their occupation is a barrier if they try to exit the industry.

“Many of the women that have built these incredible skill sets: sales, negotiation and communication,” Blithe said. “They have all kinds of really amazing skills and sometimes that doesn't translate if they want to exit the industry, they find it hard because of the stigma associated with their occupation to describe what they can do in terms of getting another job.”

Another aspect of her research for the book covered the work-life balance of the women.

“Many of the women who work [at brothels] are moms and many of them said that work-life balance is one of the reasons why they've picked this particular occupation,” Blithe said. “So maybe they work a month out of the year and then they don't work for 11 months, which for some of the women really helped them achieve work-life balance and in ways that are kind of creative and outside of the traditional box about work-life balance.”

For Blithe, who did not have much exposure to brothels prior to her research, she found a wide variety and diversity in both the women who worked there, as well as their reasons for working in brothels.

“You see people who are completely outside of what you would have expected in terms of a wide range of ages, all different types of races and ethnicities, different ways that women choose to present their identities,” Blithe said. “There's a lot more diversity in different reasons why women work there. Many of the women who work there are really satisfied with [legal sex work] as a career, they’re doing it as a sales career or because it is satisfying something personal about them and their sexual desires.”

A More Nuanced Picture

Blithe said for many legal sex work is a chosen career women take pride in.

“It's not all just about survival, for many people this is a chosen or selected career that they take great pride in and don't want to bear the stigma of people looking down on them for something as if they were forced to do it when this is, in fact, a career that they enjoy and they're excelling,” Blithe said. 

Blithe suggests that the book has been well received by the community since its release due to its balanced approach to the legal sex work industry. 

“What we're trying to do in the book is paint a more nuanced picture [of the legal sex work industry],”  Blithe said. “We try to provide a variety of evidence and to create a well-rounded picture of what's going on in the brothels rather than a book that was coming out trying to persuade people to go one way or the other. So I think that's why it's been pretty well received by people on all sides of this issue.”

Challenges and Risks of the Pandemic

Blithe also mentioned that women who work at the brothels, much like many workers across the country, have been particularly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“That already has been really problematic,” Blithe said of brothels being forced to shut down, mentioning the legal challenges of collecting small business unemployment for many of the women who may not have created an LLC for their contracted services. “I think there are definitely women who have been turning back to illegal sex work, while others are riding it out on their savings and those who are trying to find different occupations and use this as a turning point in their careers, which is also something that the brothel owners are concerned about,” Blithe said.

Blithe is particularly concerned for the women who may have turned to non-sanctioned sex work during the pandemic. 

“It's much more dangerous to perform sex work in hotels or on streets than it is in brothels,” Blithe said. “So that's a concern, not having any income at all is a concern. This pandemic has been very hard on this particular industry because the brothels really see themselves as providing a service to the community. So they have been pushing to try to reopen, without much success right now.”

All things considered, Blithe and her coauthors believe Sex and Stigma is just one step forward in addressing the stereotypes placed on legal sex workers. 

“People tend to get hung up on stereotypes and stigma and there are so many accusations and ugly words that people associate with women who work in the brothels,” Blithe said. “If we could help somehow reduce the stigma and misperceptions that people put out into the world, it would help make this particular occupation less oppressive. Whether you like it or not, this is a legal occupation and it deserves to have the same rights that other occupations are afforded in the state.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Aric Coward, A Victim of Alleged Pepper Spray Attack by Guard at Homeless Shelter in Reno

Coward says the alleged attack took place two days ago, Monday morning around 7:30 a.m., when he was told to wake up, and when he didn’t immediately move he said, after words were exchanged, a guard from the Allied Universal company, which has a multitude of local security contracts, pepper sprayed him in the face. Coward says his eyes still burn two days later, his face still feels heat and that his already poor vision has gotten blurrier and hurts when he looks at the bright sky too long.

“Hopefully, I’m going to be ok,” he said, though still feeling traumatized at what allegedly happened.

Our Town Reno contacted Volunteers of America which coordinates the shelter’s operations, but their phone number does not answer and says their voice mail is unattended to.

Our Town Reno then received an email from Linda Grace, the VOA Regional Development Officer, stating the accused security guard would no longer work at the site.

“VOA’s top priority is the health and safety of our guests, residents, and staff The incident that occurred early on December 21, 2020, at the shelter on 4th street was immediately brought to the attention of VOA management,” Grace wrote in her statement.

”VOA immediately reported the incident through proper channels to the City of Reno, as they oversee both VOA’s contract and Allied Security. The police were called, and VOA asked that the security guard involved in the incident be immediately removed from service at the shelter, and any other VOA locations. VOA has been assured that the security guard in question will not be returning to our program site. Volunteers of America-NCNN serves close to 1,000 individuals every day through a variety of programs VOA cares for people who feel abandoned, who have given up all hope. We care for men struggling with homelessness, veterans, low-income seniors, the working poor, families, and individuals suffering from mental health issues. Our first priority is the health and safety of our guests.”

Later Wednesday, the Corporate PR Manager for Allied Universal Security Services, Vanessa Showalter, based in Santa Cruz, also sent us an email saying the accused guard had been suspended. “ We are aware of an incident that occurred between one of our security professionals and an individual,” the emailed statement said. “The security professional involved was suspended pending an investigation. Our security professionals complete on-going training to help ensure that we uphold top security standards in order to serve, secure and care for the people and businesses of our communities. Since this is an on-going investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Coward said the same security guard had harassed him the previous day before the alleged pepper spray attack, and when seeing him again still in bed Monday morning, allegedly said “Oh, it’s you again.” Coward says he can barely move, having suffered three massive strokes over the past 15 years, and so it’s impossible for him to react quickly. “First he was being nasty and aggressive, and then next thing you know I get pepper sprayed in the face,” he remembers.

Coward said he’s had a very difficult 2020 already, with his Social Security benefits having stopped for several months, until he got help from a friend and a lawyer. He says he started getting his $800 a month again recently but that it’s not enough to afford stable shelter.

A former truck driver, Coward says he’s been more or less homeless since he suffered his first stroke over a decade ago, and that he’s been unable to return to work since.

“I’m scared to even walk out in the streets,” he said, when we asked if we could meet him in person. He didn’t know what he would do after leaving the Sands, but said “as sure as hell, I won’t be going back to that shelter.”

“I don’t understand what the hell is going on,” he added. “I’m at a complete loss. I want that man arrested.”

Coward said a complaint had been filed at the shelter, but he didn’t know what will follow. He says he’s extremely thankful for the whistleblower and the advocate who are helping him. “It’s nice to know there are still people like that out there,” he said.

Of being offered a night at the Sands, he said “I slept comfortably. I didn’t feel someone was going to attack me.” Of future nights up ahead, when he will avoid the shelter? “I’m leaving that to the man upstairs,” he said.

Our Town Reno reporting on December 23rd, 2020

Darius, Struggling without an ID and Local Recovery Programs

New Tent Daytime Services Welcome

“I typically come here to take a shower and I eat here. I come here [for] lunch and dinner,” Darius said of the new big tent shelter area on East 4th street.  “Currently, I'm homeless. I got my own little camping set up, but here they got places for people to sleep, shower, and food.”

He said he’s thankful for this new sleeping option, with added benefits of daytime use for meals, shade, bathrooms and showers.

“It's a good thing that they are here. It's a lot of people homeless. It's a lot of people who [aren’t] in the right mental state or whatever. And some of them don't know how to take care of themselves. Some of them will sleep anywhere. “

He said he’s found ways to get early morning day labor without needing an ID, which he says was recently stolen.

“My plans is to keep working at this one job that I'm working in. My ID was recently stolen. I just could go there by five in the morning. That's what I'm doing. It's the only place I can work right now because of my ID situation. “

“Reno isn't bad at all. There’s plenty of jobs here. There's helpful resources here that I know of so far,” Darius said of his overall situation, even if he did point out some frustrations with how a recovery program he thought about is seemingly set up.

“Hell to Get a new ID” and Housing

“It's been hard, especially during this COVID-19,” Darius said of trying to get a new ID to replace his stolen one. “The DMV is shut down. When I had a few hundred dollars a few weeks ago that I had saved up and I was online actually trying to figure it out, how I can order my ID for my driver's license from Arizona. And it was just terrible, the website is not user friendly and you know, I'm stuck out here. I can't really do much without my ID, so it's terrible.”

He says he’s been thankful for getting some work, but that' it’s not enough to get his own housing.
”[This guy] paid me on a little debit card thing or whatever, you know, it's been getting me by, but it ain't life changing, it’s not getting me off the streets, but it's money in my pocket. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's better than nothing.”

He says he’s also tried to get into a sobriety program by the downtown shelter but that he disagrees with the way it appears to be set up.

“ I tried to get in there because I just got tired of living in my tent. I drank a lot. I want to quit drinking. I'm only 27. This is ain't my life. This ain't me at all. So I walked in them doors and I asked, ‘Hey ma'am do you guys have any open beds? How can I get in the program? She said, ‘yeah, man, just fill out an application and we'll get back with you.’ But then she told me you have to work 40 hours a week and you don't get paid for that. That basically pays your housing. And I find that kind of weird and it doesn't really make sense that you guys have worked a contract to send people to work 40 hours a week where they don't get paid, but right next door and the buildings are literally connected, right next door, it’s a homeless shelter where people need work and they don't have contracts for work. And I find that a problem right there. I find that kind of weird. And it's like, it's proof that we live in a backwards ass society. Excuse my language.” 

Often, city and county officials will talk about “aid-resistant” citizens, or people on social media will say people living in tents refuse services. But what if the services are unclear or don’t feel fair to those thinking about getting them?

Food aid is easily accessible, but many people on the streets such as Darius complain about the complexity or the rules of local recovery programs.

Why not Day Labor Jobs Offered at Homeless Shelters?

“Right next door, these guys got jobs, but they're telling people that the only way you can live here, if you work for 40 hours a week. That's slavery, if you asked me, so that's the only issue,” Darius told us of why he isn’t too sure about signing up yet for the local recovery program he says he thought about getting into.

“I don't even know. It's a bunch of little things just in that same category. If you ask me that’s not really trying to help people out the situation, but it is just basically using them and getting government grants. I mean, I don't know for sure,  but I'm pretty sure.  I would like to see a lot of places that have day labor jobs and stuff like that. I would like to see a lot of their contracts go to the homeless shelter. At the homeless shelter where  there’s a lot of able bodied, men and women that's in the right state of mind, they just need work and they don't have contracts,” he told us as a way of a simple solution.

“People just only want to keep getting richer. They don’t want to help figure out how to really fix the problem,” he said as we concluded our interview.

Reporting and Photography by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Anonymous Under 21 Stripper Speaks Her Mind on Still Pending Lawsuit Against Reno

One of the strippers in the lawsuit felt that her well-being and the other women were not part of the conversation when Reno placed the new restrictions on strip clubs. “Seriously, I had a stable living, I was receiving a steady paycheck, but Reno thinks I’m gonna be better off unemployed. Like they actually think I’m gonna be safer without money.”

The lawyer in the case Mark Thierman told Our Town Reno the case is still ongoing but proceeding very slowly due to COVID-19.

In her interview, the stripper said she learned how to take care of herself at a very young age, and stripping was a way for her to maintain a sense of consistency in her life. 

She is aware that her career choice may not earn everyone’s approval, but she says no one has the right to judge her. “I feel like the law was placed on us because people have their religious morals and feel the need to convert anyone they disapprove of, but I’m not like embarrassed by what I do.”

She says the choice to become a stripper was her choice and that if you disapprove of her lifestyle, then ignore it. “The dictating of moral code is my main f***** issue,” she said.

She said she does not feel protected by the new restrictions; instead, she feels judged. “If they really wanted to protect us, they would regulate the people who come to the club sometimes, like we are seriously being punished for our ‘protection.’”

The city of Reno placed the new regulations on the strippers in April 2019 stating they were performing in an environment where alcohol is served only for those aged 21 and over. The Reno City Council also voted to remove private booths, require brighter lighting and increase the amount of video surveillance in strip clubs, amid ongoing back and forth discussions of the place of strip clubs in the Biggest Little City going forward.

Mark Thierman, the lawyer defending the strippers in the lawsuit, says the new stipulations are infringing on the stripper’s First Amendment rights.

The stripper we interviewed agreed. “When I danced the entire routine was mine, it wasn’t like anyone else’s.”

Reporting by Gracie Gordon for Our Town Reno

Denise Cook, In the Middle of Bed Bugs, Divided Donations and Social Media Firestorms

Raising the Alarm on Donations Not Received

From for profit recovery homes to foster care, to pawn shops and easy loans, from GoFundMe scams to fake panhandlers, the so-called poverty industry is rife with opportunities to take advantage of another’s misery for monetary gain.

Locally and recently, there were accusatory back and forth comments on Facebook about helping or profiting from cancer survivor, Section 8 housed, Medicaid and Social Security assisted, Sparks resident, Denise Cook, who has a blog called Help me! I’ve fallen and can’t get up!

In May, Cook posted a video of bed bugs crawling around her residence at The Lofts Apartments on the Facebook page of the Reno/Sparks mutual aid group.  She said the problem had persisted for over three years, despite regular sprayings. This time, after the community’s shock, a more radical approach was taken. 

“I was out of my apartment for seven weeks and they were supposed to get rid of the bedbugs,” Cook told Our Town Reno in a recent phone interview. “And then they literally gutted the apartment. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that could have been saved, but they just didn't want to bother with it.”

It was election season and incumbents seeking re-election in both Reno and Sparks rushed to help as Cook was put in a temporary apartment.  A challenger in her Sparks ward, Wendy Stolyarov also checked in, helping with support and purchases she needed.  It was a chaotic time as Cook’s cat hid and then likely ran away and much needed items such as her mobility scooter had to be left behind or were left behind unwillingly in all the rush and newfound focus to finally get her apartment rid of bed bugs. 

Previous attempts by Cook to get help through different legal organizations, government offices, her own GoFundMe attempts, media, Nextdoor and social service agencies had been unsuccessful but now it seemed she was finally being helped by caring neighbors and community leaders. They took over directing the help and seeking out donations rather than the mutual aid group.

Cook, who is in her fifties, says she also made new friends. “ [Community support] was amazing. It was just overwhelming with people being nice and helping and people did a lot of stuff to help me. Like I'm a plus-size and it's hard to find clothes in my size and people went and bought clothes for me and stuff. So that was really nice because when I left, I wasn't allowed to take any clothes, just what I absolutely had to have, like meds and stuff and it was incredible.”  

A previous fundraiser Cook organized for herself, using the same visual as on her blog, had not gotten very far, before a post on a mutual aid group did get lots of attention.

Many Setbacks Despite all the Help

The bugs were still a problem though.  “They did a heat treatment. And so you would think that would have gotten rid of the bugs before they moved me back in, but they didn't. So I still have that. It's not as many, but I still have them,” Cook said in our recent interview. “So all of that was done, all this, losing everything I owned or nearly everything I owned. And then I'm back in the same situation where I'm still dealing with bugs and it's incredibly frustrating,” Cook said over the phone.

Donation accounts had also been set up to help her, but that set off divisions and allegations of theft of what was intended to help her.

“I never saw it. I have no idea,” Cook told us of some of the donations. “They raised money through Facebook, mostly I know of two donations outside of Facebook that were sent through PayPal.”

She says a well known person in the mutual aid community we tried to interview, but who never got back to us to respond to the allegations, used her own accounts to receive some of the donations. Cook says this woman also kept telling her that her left behind items would be replaced and that new ones would arrive.

Cook says the woman also threatened to sue her for libel after she started writing about these developments, including allegations she only received about half of the more than $5,000 she estimates was raised for her.

“There's no way for anybody other than her to know how much she raised, because it didn't go through a platform. It went directly to her,” Cook told us.

Others in the mutual aid community corroborated these accounts, while some took the side of the accused woman, saying Cook was exaggerating her problems.

“She said it was pro bono and that the funds were supposed to be used to help me,” Cook told Our Town Reno. “Somebody at one point said something about me getting gift cards. And I said I hadn't received any gift cards. And so because sometimes people say something and I don't know if they're just asking or if they're asking because they donated that and they're checking to see if I got it. But it seemed like people had donated gift cards, but I didn't get them,” she said. 

We couldn’t get this accused person’s version so we decided not to publish her name, but it’s unfortunate that a story of a community coming together to help Denise Cook went so sour, that her cat disappeared, that she lost so many possessions in the ordeal, that she feels donations meant for her were never received, that she had to deal with new problems when items disappeared, that people in the mutual aid community got so angry at each other and that bed bugs that set it all off apparently remained.

“I don’t know what to do,” she recently posted on her blog. “I’ve spent everything I had on trying to replace things, and it’s all for nothing. I want to scream, and just shake people who wronged me. I’m not going to DO that, but sure want to.”

She also says her apartment’s management should also be responsible for some of her losses due to the persistent bed bugs. 

After the story was published the mutual aid group released this statement in the comment section: “We would like to clarify the anonymous person referenced in this story is not an admin, moderator, or affiliated with our group, Reno/Sparks Mutual Aid. Further, our group was one of many that assisted with the effort to help but were not spearheading it. The fundraiser on Facebook was not started by us nor did anyone on our moderation or admin team have access to it.

We believe that aftercare is a necessary part of mutual aid, and know that many members of our group became friends with Denise, including our founder. We cannot comment on the person who collected donations. We are heartbroken that Denise is still dealing with the same situation and ask the Reno Housing Authority to act swiftly as promised in many emails sent to Denise over the years.

Finally, those hoping to find Denise’s cat should like Help Bring Mama Cat Home for more information.”

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Cowboy Tom, from Cook in the Air Force to Cookies for Kindness in Reno

From Donated Cookies to Full on Meal Donations

Thomas Hill, the high energy hero of Reno behind Cookies for Kindness, also known as “Cowboy Tom” recently orchestrated the donation of 700 Thanksgiving dinners. These dinners included everything needed to make a full dinner for four people. Hill also included his own cooking tips he has cultivated over the years from his previous time as a cook in the Air Force. 

As a disabled veteran ,severely injured in a car accident, Hill says he understands the importance of helping others.

In a recent interview with Our Town Reno, Hill explained that in 2018 he started selling cookies he made to supplement his income, and that Cookies for Kindness resulted from surplus he wasn’t selling, as he was now handing out free cookies to the homeless and seniors at his low-income housing complex.

“It was so many seniors,'' Hill said from his workspace in the cafeteria of the Bridge Church on Foster Dr.. “[Some were] on oxygen at the time and they couldn’t cook anymore, so I would put out cookies in the lobby.”

His signature recipe is a banana-doodle cookie. His cookies became so popular he soon began to sell out and had over 25 events booked for 2020. His business now included catering, cooking for large scale events and fundraisers. He had plans to replace his beat-up truck, which he spends a lot of time on maintaining, with a van that had his logo on it. He had plans to grow his business to facilitate more donating. Then came the pandemic and with it, Hill lost business and his supplemental income.

Hill is adept at pouring his energy into social media and networking, as well, leading to more meals for organizations.

Helping Even More During the Pandemic

As the pandemic put a halt on paid opportunities, Hill decided to put his skills to helping those in need. Over the course of the year, he estimates he has donated over 8,000 meals along with putting together 150 backpacks with school supplies for local kids in need.

Hill networks with other non-profits knowing that when they combine forces, the impact is far greater than the sum of the parts. He used this network to facilitate his hugely successful Thanksgiving donation. Hill was able to gather turkeys, stuffing, celery, gravy, and other items—all from local grocery stores and sources. He is most proud of organizing the donation of a 53 foot refrigerated trailer from ITS Logistics to help store the food. In addition to these meal kits, Hill also cooked and served 160 hot meals for the homeless on Thanksgiving day.

This year, Hill has also been cooking for the Eddy house, a local safe house and organization that helps at-risk youth develop independence, averaging almost a dozen meals a month, including healthy breakfasts. He also began helping seniors on Indian reservations. “I was able to put together 150 care packages that included things like sanitizer, masks, and whatnot. As well as big bags of food for them. It worked out really well,” he said.

Looking forward, Hill has plans to spend his Christmas cooking for Casa de Vida, which provides support for young pregnant women. He wants to craft a special dinner for them complete with decorations and delicious food. Hill thrives in these settings when he can pour his creativity into cooking and help people in need. He says he enjoys seeing the smiles his food brings them. “I believe if we all just take a deep breath, be kind to one another, we can pull anybody that’s down up and help everybody out in the community.”

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

Brandon Deriso, From Concert Promoter to Open Mic Studios and the RenoCast Podcast

Building a Podcast Studio in the Ruins of a Pandemic

With a background as a concert promoter, putting Reno on the map seems to have always come naturally to Brandon Deriso. Also as a small business owner with experience in a variety of industries, he knows what it takes to make things happen in the Biggest Little City. So when the COVID-19 pandemic overtook the country with its subsequent economic fallout for small businesses like Deriso’s, he immediately began looking for his next big project.

“Between concerts and the coffee [shop] and having a street food cart, COVID pretty personally attacked me [economically],” Deriso said during a recent interview with Our Town Reno after he approached us for a possible partnership. “So I was sitting around for a few months trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do with my time and I thought, ‘Well, I've got some contacts with some rock stars. I've got some contacts with some people that can do some cool things. Maybe I should just talk about that for awhile, while people are sitting at home listening.’”

With that, Open Mic Studios was recently built and launched on East 2nd St. Installed with five microphones and phone-in capabilities, Open Mic Studios was made to adapt to users’ needs by functioning like a live terrestrial radio station or for pre-recorded podcasts. Deriso’s goal is to create a space that suits the needs of the community, a goal resembled by his recently-released local podcast: RenoCast.  The podcast has been producing a steady clip of episodes, but the existing location is now being lost.

“The first thing that the studio put together was called RenoCast,” Deriso said. “I never had any aspirations of being a podcaster. But what was happening is people were coming in to check out what we're doing over here and they'd want to start their own podcast, but sometimes they would need like an active listener so I just started sitting in the seat and backing people up and I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be like a thing that has to happen.’”

Being Booted Out

Things were going well for his new studio initially during a turbulent year, as Deriso started bringing people into the studio to be featured on RenoCast, including City Councilwoman Naomi Duerr and Tyre Gray, President of the Nevada Mining Association. 

“So some really cool people just kind of came out and it was just all personality pieces,” Deriso said. “It was like, ‘Who are you in our community? What do you do? What are we doing here? What's it been like to live in Reno?’ So these things came out pretty cool with these personalities.”

All of that changed, however, when Deriso was notified by Basin Street Properties that he would have to vacate the studio space in favor of a gym being built in the same space. Open Mic Studio has existed for nearly six months under a licensing agreement, not a lease, which means the building is legally able to make Deriso vacate the space. Nonetheless, the notice came as a shock to Deriso, who had paid his rents in full and ahead of time despite the pandemic, as he intended to utilize the space for years to come. 

“I was shocked, to be honest,” Deriso wrote in a subsequent email correspondence with Our Town Reno. “Up until this, the building and staff have been somewhat supportive of our efforts. This however, is just such a slap in the face. I let [Basin Street Properties] know up front that I was going to pay ahead and weather the pandemic storm in the hopes that after it was over, we could discern if any concessions were needed and warranted.”

The decision by Basin Street Properties to make him vacate in favor of a gym, Deriso says, will lead to him moving his coffee shop out of the building as well. 

“I might understand if they were doing something meaningful with the space, but they’re going to destroy this already iconic radio studio, evict a paying tenant, and lose another lease in the process, all to build a gym for the building. I don’t even think gyms can be open during all this, can they?” Deriso wrote.

“Secondarily, most of the tenants in the building have already vacated as well. The offices upstairs, which outside pandemic would have hundreds of people there daily, are almost completely vacant. I attempted to open the coffee shop and it was more costly to keep it open than closed. So I paid all that rent knowing I’d be closed, just to keep my relationship strong with the landlord, only to be pushed out of the one space that actually was functional.” 

While staying local, Open Mic Studios is increasingly looking to online, remote possibilities due to the pandemic, but is also thinking of reviving the in person vibe.

Thinking of Live Podcast Recording

Now, Deriso is exploring his options on where to take his studio next. One idea has been to transition to a live-podcast format. 

“We’ve been toying with the live format for a while now and this will give us a good reason to follow through with that,” Deriso wrote. “Reno can expect to enjoy podcasts recorded with a live audience hosted by Virginia Street Brewhouse very soon. We haven’t even announced the move yet and already we have a couple of options for a new location. We have a lot of art in that little 200 sq. ft. space and wherever we go next needs to be prepared to become as Reno-famous as the Awful Awful.”

Despite these recent challenges in having to change locations, Deriso aims to have the studio utilized the same way a record label functions with musicians. A platform like this is particularly important now, Deriso says, considering how much the city is changing not only on the ground-level, but also in the eyes of the world.  

“Reno is starting to really show its influence on the outside world,” Deriso said. “This town has so much character, so much personality that when people come here, you can't help but fall in love with the charm. That's why I think it's a little dangerous when we start projecting to the outside world to move here, because you can really destroy that little shining thing in the center that makes us what we are, [represented by] that little star that sits on top of the arch. That [star] is not there by accident, that's what the heart of this city looks like.”

Deriso is having to move his whole setup, but he is used to change while remaining set on Reno’s potential.

Making Amends with the Past

Deriso knows the value of the small-town charm Reno offers, particularly because he admits he’s taken it for granted in the past. 

“I really damaged this community before,” Deriso said, in part from his time as an influential concert-promoter. “At some point in my life, I was really wreaking havoc on my relationships and the people who cared about me and I didn't know what I was doing. [Today, I] look back and go, ‘Wow, you were the villain in your own story,’ and I've gotten to this place where I can accept that.”

Reno is a generational town, Deriso says, which is represented by his own family roots, as both of his parents grew up and lived in the Biggest Little City. Therefore, when you fracture relationships in a town like this, it takes time to redeem them, he explained. 

For Deriso, his roller-coaster experience with Reno began when his father was murdered, when Deriso was in his early 20s. At the time, Deriso had a good-paying job and was a member of a local band.  in 2005, a Sparks man was found guilty of first-degree murder with willful intent of walking into the house of his father, Miles Deriso, and shooting him.

“So this major thing happened and suddenly I became aware of just the normalcy of the office and how that functioned and how people were, and that just wasn’t for me,” Deriso said. “So I quit that job and I went to work at Club Underground and I was in there all the time.”

Deriso became the manager, in part because of the number of people his band was drawing in. Seeing the potential in Reno’s live-music scene, Deriso shifted Club Underground’s direction away from a nightclub vibe, to one more geared toward live music. Inadvertently, Deriso’s career as a concert promoter then began when he made an offer for the heavy-metal band Mushroomhead, to play at the club in early 2004.

“[Mushroomhead] accepted my offer and it was not really a large offer, which was the best part because suddenly we had this massive turnout with a fairly high ticket price and the bar ring was huge,” Deriso said.  

Going National and Having Problems at Home

Then in 2005, Deriso booked a co-headline show with Shiny Toy Guns and The Rapture, which also turned out to be a hot ticket in Reno. At the same time, however, he was also contacted by a band called Clutch. When Deriso was told if he was going to book Clutch at Club Underground, that he’d have to make the deal on his own, Deriso took a gamble and went forward with the deal anyway. 

“I took the Clutch show myself and you have to understand how stupid that actually was, because I had no money that I was guaranteeing these guys,” Deriso said. “But I put the tickets on sale the day I confirmed [the booking] and the tickets sold out in 37 minutes.”

Just like that his career as a successful concert promoter was launched as he went on to organize over 300 shows a year in various markets. Deriso soon found himself involved in 2,800 live productions in 44 cities across the country over the next few years. In 2012, he even booked and oversaw Andre Nickatina’s nationwide Where’s My Money Tour, featuring Prof. 

These high-profile commitments, however, in turn led to the fracturing of some of his relationships at home in Reno.  “What starts to happen is this: this nice young kid is getting all this attention and people want stuff from him and he wants stuff from them and so it sort of was this like moving a needle [away] from being a good guy,” Deriso said. 

People would often reach out to him, looking to hang out or grab a lunch someplace. When Deriso started passing on these opportunities and taking old friends for granted, he says he felt like that’s when things really took a turn.

“That little dismissal of a relationship is the catalyst for all of it,” Deriso said. “That extends far and wide when you do things that harm relationships. That's the part that people struggle with the most because when you're damaging a relationship, like if I smack you in the face, it's a pretty clear response of what happens. But if I'm like, ‘I'm over you, why don't you go ahead and go now.’ What do you even do with that?’”

Shortly thereafter, then, Deriso says he hit a low point. But it was also a time that he met his wife, found his faith and has been working to make amends with the city of Reno ever since. He says he’s only able to do so today because of his understanding of what’s already been done. 

“I was in a lot of pain because most of these relationship damages were done amongst people at home, people that were investing money into my company or people that were trying to be my friend, so that's still a struggle,” Deriso said. “The first way to overcome that, when you're so painfully fully aware of who you were, that there’s only one option for who you can be and where you can go. That [understanding is] helpful because this town has been a little forgiving and it's also been a little unforgiving.”

Deriso is behind a wide range of initiatives locally, working to keep culture and the entrepreneurial spirit alive in the Biggest Little City.

Paying it Forward

After his concert promotion success, Deriso went on to own local a women’s fitness studio and his perspectives changed even more. Now, he says, he doesn’t see employees as working for him, but working with him. He wants to find a way to pay it forward, in a sense, by creating opportunities like having university students and other community members at his new Open Mic Studios. 

Now that he’s eight years removed from that low-point in his life, he says he just wants what’s best for the city of Reno, particularly as it continues to change and evolve. Sometimes that brings him into the foray of city politics, where he admits being vocal in this most recent election cycle. He wrote an opinion piece which was published on This is Reno last year, criticizing Mayor Hillary Schieve and a now disappeared Reno centric Facebook page. Although change isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Deriso hopes Reno can maintain the core of the character it’s always had. 

“Over the years, thinking back to the mid-to-late 90s to now, even that evolution is very noticeable and you find yourself as an old-Reno type trying to fight for what looks like old Reno, against people who are saying, ‘This is progress,’” Deriso said.

“I think ‘progress’ is sometimes a deceptive word, just because it's moving doesn't mean it's progressing and I think that's something that we really have to look at when you start talking about the development. Development is key here in how we develop and why and where,” Deriso said of a changing Reno.

Wary of Some of the Change We are Getting

When the city revealed a plan for a ‘New Reno’ back in 2014, Deriso was very supportive of it. In the six years since then, however, he feels Reno’s been duped by bringing in development projects that aren’t true to Reno’s character and is instead trying to be like everywhere else. 

“Reno was a town really and truly run by the people of the town,” Deriso said. “There's a funny dynamic that happens with Reno because you get people who have this incredible, authentic, artistic sense of self, but then they want to use that to mimic the outside world a little bit and I think that's where Reno hits its glass ceiling frequently.”

So Deriso would like to see opportunities for other industries as well as a focus on the arts, while also making housing available for those who are already living in Reno, as opposed to courting those from outside the city to come live here. 

“When Reno outgrows the self-aggrandized piece of its personality, it just changes things,” Deriso said. “I want to show what Reno is and what I am and what this is, because that's what's going to spread the right kind of message and love.”

Spreading the right message specifically for Reno will be an element of his new Open Mic Studios, where he aims to host a number of ongoing, locally-focused projects. One such project that’s being discussed right now is having someone who will run a Q&A podcast where people can write in questions on how to navigate local government systems at the state, county and city level. These podcasts will cover a range of topics from how to get a marriage license to navigating the foster care system. 

By providing a platform for those in the city of Reno to share their voice as well, particularly on local matters, Deriso hopes to bring back the small-town relationship element that has always been inherent to the Biggest Little City.

“Relationships and how we relate with one another is everything,” Deriso said. “We have to do everything we can to be able to look at a person that you think is a scumbag and wonder why they're not. That's what makes Reno, Reno. We're all a little bit scumbag, a little bit high-class. We're all a little bit Pabst and we're all a little bit champagne. So I think if anything, we've got to abandon the notions of the things that are breaking us apart in the moment.” 

It’s that small-town relationship element, after all, that Deriso understands and now appreciates all too well. So although the location of his new Open Mic Studio will have to change, he says his mission to provide a platform for voices in an evolving Reno will continue.

Reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Abbey Nyberg, Combating "Hostile Architecture" at UNR

Seeking a Ban on Hostile Benches

Abbey Nyberg, who is pursuing a dual program for Secondary Education and English, has teamed up with two other students, Matthew Graham and Elliot Bailey, to present a proposal combating “hostile architecture” on campus.

“We all got together because we are all passionate about stopping [this],” she said.

With the presentation now part of a non fiction English class assignment, she aims to soon get support from ASUN [The Associated Students of the University of Nevada] and “take our persuasive letter to [UNR] President Brian Sandoval and then from there we are hoping to hear back from him on a potential ban on this that could be written into the bylaws of the university or something like that to basically ban all future hostile architecture with an emphasis in those anti-homeless benches.”

“Obviously homelessness is just skyrocketing in the Reno-Sparks area, with our current housing market. I’ve just seen it increasing it drastically in my lifetime,” the Northern Nevada native said.

In our interview she referred to a recent study indicating a third of all university students in the US are housing insecure at some point during their higher learning experience, with 18% having actually experienced homelessness at some point during their studies. 

Specific statistics are hard to come by, with local reporting often relying on the use of Pack Provisions, the university’s food pantry, to gage the current extent of student and faculty poverty. A recent Nevada Today article indicated the need for food assistance is expected to double among students this academic year.

“The standard looking bench has shorter seat width than normal,” Nyberg said of the ubiquitous green benches seen across campus. “Hostile architecture can be found all over the UNR campus, particularly anti-homeless benches, any kind of benches that have bars in them, or bars at every seat are considered anti-homeless, in addition to benches with sloped bottoms, where you can’t really sit on them or lay on them long term, those are also anti-homeless.”

Without Stable Shelter, and On Campus for Long Hours

As an IT worker at the Knowledge Center, Nyberg says she sees individuals there who are clearly without stable shelter and inside from as early as five a.m. to when she leaves work at five in the afternoon. 

“I’m a little bit concerned about where the individuals I see everyday are going to go on those days that it gets colder,” Nyberg said of reduced hours during the upcoming Wintermester, which will coincide with harsher weather and dorms still closed due to COVID-19.

Why does hostile architecture even exist?

“I think a lot of it has to do with the belief that homeless people are somehow dangerous or that they’re dirty or representing the community in a way that’s not desirable if that makes sense,” Nyberg answered. “It may not look great to have a homeless individual sitting on the street, but I would rather have them have a safe place to be than having to put themselves in unsafe situations just to find a spot to rest.”

Does she have any other ideas to help students and faculty without stable shelter?

“I think it would be really cool if a university could open up a low income or adjusted housing situation with students having an opportunity to live on a campus and have a place to live on a much more affordable cost than say the dorms,” Nyberg said. “It’s pretty ridiculous to live in the dorms with a higher cost than some rent they could pay off campus. Something like that would be really nice to see, to help out those students even if it’s something where they can come and go based on their needs, that would be really awesome.” 

Our Town Reno reporting in December 2020

Troy, Living in a Tent in Reno, with a Bad Back and Going Blind

I wasn't able to work anymore because of back problems. So, I mean, pretty much, you know, one thing after another, just sitting there, you end up out here

Once you come out here, you're out here and I mean, it gets easier and harder every day. I realized that it's a lot harder to do this life than it is to go out and get a job nine to five and pay your bills and whatever. But I mean, right now with the way my back is, there's no way I can do it and I'm going blind too. So, I mean, it's kind of tough for me. I got no choice.

There's a lot of good people in Reno. They bring us food out, you know, there's somebody different everyday that comes out here and brings some food and they just bring blankets. I mean, the people bring it here. And then of course there's Record Street and you know, and all that, but I don't really do much down there. I don't like it down there.

I just don't like the people that are there. I don't want to be under their thumb, be told when to get up when to go to bed. When you know, I'm a grown man. I don't need all that, but I mean, obviously I need some kind of help because I'm here. So I don't know.

Most of the time, I'm surprised we're still here. We've been here for like four months without a cop telling us to leave. And that's unheard of.

I've been out here like three years, so I mean they've [previously] told me to move 100 times, you know what I mean? So, and they're not very nice about ot.

The last time I was told to move, we were down here on this wall, this wall here, and, a police officer came in at four o'clock in the morning. So we packed our stuff in a cart and we walked off the river. We went to a friend's house for a little while and then found another spot to go to.

[The Governor’s Bowl plan?] We'll see what it looks like when they build it? I mean, if it's feasible. Yeah, sure. I mean, I've got a girl, so we're not going to be separated. That's a big part of the shelter too, is they want to separate us, you know, put us in different areas and not let us be together. And it just doesn't work for us. So that's why we're still out here in a tent because we prefer to be together

I’m thankful that I woke up breathing this morning. I mean I don't have much to be grateful for right now, but I mean, I'm happy as happy as I could possibly be, you know, that's all right. I'm grateful my girl's home.

{I’m also grateful for] this dog Squeaker who kind of adopted me. She's been hanging out with me, but she's really good. I don't like little dogs, but this one's kind of cool. She doesn't bark too much. She just came in and stayed. She's got an owner, but I'm not sure where he is. I don't care. I'll feed her and take care of her. She's a good dog.

Out here, we get high or whatever, and that's a big part of my problem too. You know what I mean? So if I were to get off that, then I’m sure that I could get my stuff taken care of and get myself back together, but it's just hasn't happened yet.

My eye sight is more detrimental right now [than my bad back]. And that is like a five month waiting period just to get into the surgeon. I’m going blind soon. I have to make a new appointment because something happened last time and I wasn't able to make the appointment. I didn't have a ride. Didn't have anybody to come with me.

The pandemic hasn't been dissipated and it's harder to do things, you know? So I don't know, but I don't want to talk about politics.

First Person Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

Scott King, An Our Town Reno Reporter Bids Farewell

From Peace Corps in Grenada to Our Town Reno

RB: Scott, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with Our Town Reno?

SK: So I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and what originally brought me to Our Town Reno is I'm a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, which led me to working for the Our Town Reno street reporting collective which Nico Colombant coordinates.

What originally brought me here was that I was a Peace Corps volunteer serving as a literacy teacher on the Island of Grenada. I decided to go back to school to pursue a graduate degree in digital media. I chose to go to the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Peace Corps has this Coverdell fellowship, for returned Peace Corps volunteers, to find ways to help fund their graduate education. So I became a Coverdell fellow and as part of that requirement, I had to fulfill an obligation to work with an underserved community. And that's kind of where Our Town Reno just kind of naturally fit the mold because we're doing a street reporting collective regarding, you know, homelessness and the affordable housing crisis that Reno's experienced. And so it just kind of naturally fell into place from there.

RB: What has it been like being a reporter for Our Town Reno?

SK: Man, that's a, that's a big question. You know, it's just been an absolutely humbling and incredible experience. It was a little intimidating at first to be perfectly honest to, you know, walk up to somebody that is, you know, at their camp or at their tent or even in the shelters, you know, these people don't have a whole lot. And you know, one thing that they do have is their time, especially in the modern media environment that we're in today, that can be pretty divisive and pretty hostile, and people can be pretty leery of you. You know, it could be a little intimidating at first, but very quickly I realized that in my personal experience, a vast majority of the people that are on the streets are open and they want to talk because they're kind of left on the fringes of society and you know, they're ignored on the side of the road.

People don't really pay much attention to them and I don't know if it's because people kind of just feel bad for the situation that these individuals have found themselves in. So they don't know exactly how to approach it. So for myself, as I started meeting with them more and more, the stories that they had, and the experiences that they shared with me; and their willingness to share that with me was pretty powerful. The fact that they would trust me with their message, their voice, their image, and to be able to provide that platform for them as an Our Town Reno reporter and doing something that not a whole lot of media groups are really doing across the country. Our Town Reno is a very unique, niche media type of platform and to devote a whole platform to something like this, where you're giving a voice to a vulnerable community that is often ignored and neglected and disregarded by society, it's been a pretty powerful experience. 

A screengrab from Scott’s blog https://scottwilliamking.blog/ where he’s written about his experiences from Peace Corps in Grenada to visiting national parks in the west.

From a Fishing Village to the Biggest Little City

RB:How do you think your experience in the Peace Corps augmented your experience with Our Town Reno?

SK: So that's a really good question. I think the unique thing about the Peace Corps experience, you know, you really become integrated in the communities, your host communities that you live in and work in. So in my case, I was in this little fishing town and on the Island of Grenada, you get exposed to a completely different way of life, a completely different culture. And that's just totally different from what I experienced growing up in the United States. That's certainly not saying like, that's a bad thing. It's just a completely different way of life. And I fell in love with it. And a lot of people say that you, if you speak to a lot of returned Peace Corps volunteers, a common theme that you'll hear is that it's harder coming back to the United States and reintegrating into American life than it was to initially integrate into your host country or your host community.

And I found that to be very reflective of my own personal experience. When I first came to Reno, I left my home in Cleveland, spent two years in Grenada in this town of Gouyave, a little fishing capital of the Island. I fell in love with my life down there. I fell in love with my job, everything that I was doing, my community, my friends that I made down there. To leave, that was very difficult because you literally built this life for yourself from the ground up. Then all of a sudden, it just feels like it's swept. The rug is swept underneath you and then I landed in Reno. 

When I first came to Reno, I felt kind of lost, you know, I was just coming back to school. I wasn't sure how, like I really felt about that. Reno just kind of welcomed me with open arms because it's got that kind of character. It's got that personality of like, it's almost kind of hard to describe other than like people are just so in touch with themselves that they're not afraid to be themselves. And, you know, someone might be doing things this way, other people doing things that way and like, it's okay, you do you, right? That kind of culture, I really appreciated about Reno and that also I found to be the same way in my experiences with speaking with the homeless community, becoming involved in the homeless community, by going to these camps, going to these individuals. And in my experience in the shelters, that was also like my first time going into my community in Grenada, you know, a totally different environment, totally different culture, totally different experience than from what I'm used to.

But once again, I found a community that was open for the most part and welcoming and warm and friendly. And these people really gave me an appreciation and a respect simply because I went forward and asked them a question. I learned their name. I had a discussion with them and about their experiences and wanting to share that. So that level of trust that welcoming and that openness, I think is a parallel between my two experiences. From a personal growth standpoint, it was definitely something I needed, to find myself in an environment with a group of people and within a culture that I was unfamiliar with, but then kind of just fell into the groove with, and their openness, their willingness to speak with me and to trust me, they did things that I wasn't expecting them to, and that I may not have done if I were, if a stranger just happened to approach me, you know, once again, I found myself in an environment that was unfamiliar to me and you know, I was welcomed with open arms and a trusting voice. And man, just the generosity of these people. It's incredible.

Scott interviews Rose which resulted in this story: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2020/10/12/rose-unable-to-hear-or-to-access-housing-after-being-evicted

Evolving Perceptions

RB: In what ways has working for Our Town Reno changed your perception of the city?

SK: When I first made the decision to come back to school and go to UNR I knew absolutely nothing about Reno, Nevada, and I think maybe all I knew was the television show, Reno 9–1-1 of which I admittedly haven't really seen a whole lot of. That was the really cool thing about working for Our Town Reno was I felt that I got to learn about the city of Reno, like the real city of Reno, just by being on the streets. I had to orient myself pretty quick, walking the streets downtown, like figuring out where's, you know, where is where. And luckily it is the Biggest Little City, so it's not like downtown is really that big.

Orienting myself from a geographic standpoint didn't take too long, but then kind of going back to the personality and the culture of Reno, I think I learned that pretty quick in terms of the things that are going on on the ground. So what's happening at the shelters, what's happening on the streets, what's happening in city government. During my time with Our Town Reno, I've interviewed half of the Reno city council. And there were some times I was interviewing these individuals and I didn't even know that they were city council members. They're at different community events that I just happened to be reporting on. And then of course there are other events where it was particularly focused on what city council is doing for the homeless community and trying to address the affordable housing crisis. You know, it's easy when you're in a city to just kind of stay in your bubble, so to speak, stay in your home, like stay in your suburb, whatever, and not really see what life is like on the ground.

It's kind of a privileged not to get involved in city politics or in your communities politics, to understand from that perspective, the things that are going on, what city council is doing, what the county is doing to try and support this community enabled me to kind of really see the core of what the city of Reno was all about. The affordable housing crisis itself is a super complex issue. I think they have it in their best interests to support this community. It's just, there's not really such an easy solution that can be a snap of the fingers and solve this, right? There's a myriad of factors that play into why people are homeless, why they might not want to stay at the shelters. There's a myriad of different ways to try and find ways to support them too.

One of the people Scott remembers best during his reporting is Angela above who was barefoot in the cold when he first met her. Her story here: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2019/10/15/angela-gets-robbed-and-harassed-in-reno-after-walking-here-from-california

Remembering Angela and Her Progression

RB: And as you look back on your time reporting for Our Town Reno, is there a particular story that you really enjoy?

SK: There's couple of moments that kind of stand out to me, for sure. I'll mention, I'll start with, with one of my first stories ever done by myself and Lucia Starbuck who used to report with Our Town Reno. We were going around doing street reporting and we were at Barbara Bennett park and it was late October. So like, it was starting to get really cold at night. We went out to those tennis courts at Barbara Bennett park and there was a woman there. Her name was Angela and, you know, she had absolutely nothing. She was just sitting on the court, cross-legged. She had nothing, maybe sweat pants and a coat, but nothing else, no shoes and mind you, it was freezing and there was frost on the grass. And meanwhile, there's these guys over on the next court over, playing tennis. And so that was just the dichotomy of that. The contrast really kind of has stuck with me. 

She shared her story. She had walked over from California with her husband. Things didn't work out between the two of them when they got here, but then she was robbed, lost her ID, lost everything. And then that's kinda when I first learned about the system and how difficult that is to get out of it, say, because in order to get a new ID, you need to provide a birth certificate. But if you don't have the documents for your birth certificate, you have to go through a whole application process. This can take weeks to months to figure out, right. You know, she was very willing to speak with us and you know, shared her story. A couple weeks later, I was at Pickett Park for a donation drive, she was pretty much alone when we first met her, but she had found some camaraderie and some people to look out for her and support her when she was at Pickett Park.

When we saw her there she had a fresh pair of boots. She had some gear. She had made significant progress since that time we last saw her. So to kind of see that progression has been really cool.

Another interview Scott remembers well is with Melissa (right) from our now COVID-19 suspended share your story session times at the Washoe County downtown library. Story about Melissa here

Share Your Story Sessions at the Washoe County Library

SK: Two other stories that kind of stick out to me, when I spent time, every Monday morning, I was sitting at the Washoe County downtown library here in Reno. Every Monday morning I would sit there and we had a share your story session. So I just had a little platform up there and for people to come up and share their story with me, one woman came up to me, her name was Melissa. And she completely opened up everything that she had bottled up. She was staying with her two children at, you know, at the women's and children's shelter. Her husband was staying at the men's shelter because they couldn't stay together. And so she just opened up about the challenges of that and how she wanted to keep that normalcy for her children. And so she took her children to the men's shelter, just to say goodnight to their father every night, just to kind of keep that routine, keep that normalcy. You know, she, it got to a point she was very emotional and cried and, you know, she said, I've been bottling this up. And I feel like I haven't been able to tell anybody this. And so just kind of be that avenue. That was a powerful experience. 

At that same one share your story session, I had a man come up to me, he was a former meth addict and he was clean for a couple of years. He had custody of his daughter. He welcomed somebody back in a family who also had an addiction problem back into his home. And then he had a relapse. Because of his relapse, he was going to lose custody of his daughter. And he had already gotten clean once, he knew he could do it again. In order to maintain custody of his daughter, he had to check himself into a rehabilitation clinic. But because of the waiting list, he needed to be on that list to get treatment like within two weeks or something, or he'd lose custody of his daughter. The waiting list was like six weeks to two months long.

And so, you know, when he shared that with me, like, that's, when you really see the human side of these are real people who value their family, their relationships, value their friendships, and you see the human element of, of these things. And, you know, the stories behind these people. And those are probably three stories that really kind of resonated with me and have stuck with me to this day.

Working for a Niche, Experimental Platform

RB: So you've been working with Our Town Reno for almost a year and a half. Just about what has it been like to work for a niche media publication?

SK: It's been really cool because journalism and media is changing so much with the digital disruption, the internet, and how things have changed. The industry has been totally flipped on its head. And so a lot of people are trying to figure out different solutions as to how we can do this in a legitimate and respectable manner. So we have a lot of division particularly in slanted media, you have your right side, you have your left side, and we're kind of, because we're looking at things through specific lenses, we're almost, we're starting to lose that objectivity. That was the foundation of journalism from the get-go. So now, in my opinion, I think you might be seeing, going forward, is more locally sourced and niche media publications across platforms. And Our Town Reno kind of fits that mold in that it's entirely local, focused on Reno and Washoe County and, you know, focusing mostly on just one topic, which is homelessness and the affordable housing crisis.

So to have essentially like a beat, like this allows you to really kind of understand and build relationships with those people, those individuals that are involved with it. So I think Our Town Reno, this, and especially with its multimedia element of it, the fact that we can, we can do written stories and then have podcasts with that as well. So that way you can read the story about this individual, and then you can hear their voice in the moment that we spoke to them, whether it's under the bridge or on the side of the road or in the shelter. I think that's powerful, especially with a niche focus, like the affordable housing crisis.

RB: And in what ways has your experience with Our Town Reno shaped you as a journalist?

SK: Wow, that's incredible because it really has. I never envisioned myself to be a reporter or a journalist, you know, even before I came into this program. I wanted to go to this program. so I was going to journalism school, but I didn't want to be a journalist. And my dad ribs me for this, to this day, a major influence for me, honestly, was working with Lucia Starbuck. She was just so natural. Speaking with these individuals on the street, like they just opened up to her and the questions that she asked were just brilliant and got to like, get to the real heart of things with them. I learned a lot just from watching her and working with her.

I've also learned an incredible amount just through working under Nico the coordinator for Our Town Reno. He has a way of finding your strengths and building on those strengths, knowing what you do well. And he also isn't afraid to put you in an environment or a situation that  you might be uncomfortable with, or you're unfamiliar with so that you can kind of round out your journalism repertoire. So to speak in my personal case street photography, that was something that I never envisioned myself doing. That's something that I've started to do for the Biggest Little Streets Instagram account. It became something to me that I started to enjoy. I don't think that's something that I would have really gotten into or thought to do otherwise. So I think as a journalist, I've grown in the capabilities that I have to tell a story. So between the podcasts, between the written and web stories between the photography, and then even the narrative films that I put together. I put together a narrative film from my night out with Eric Marks, we had a podcast session just like this and afterwards he offered to take me out on the streets to see what it's like to shoot on the streets of Reno at night. And so Lucia and I went with him, we ended up shooting a video like through the whole night, chronicling it. And I was able to turn that into a narrative film. And that was just a really cool experience. So I think Our Town Reno has given me the opportunity to explore different avenues of digital media. I've learned a lot about myself as a journalist, and I've also learned a lot about the field and industry of journalism. That's definitely something that I'm grateful for.

A behind the scenes Our Town Reno documentary by Scott King and Lucia Starbuck about downtown nighttime street photographer Eric Marks.

Telling Stories Across Platforms

RB: Has your experiences with Our Town Reno changed your career goals and objectives?

SK: So I don't think they necessarily changed them because I kind of came in here into this program and into this experience with an open book and just looking to learn to let that kind of mold the direction I want to take this. But originally what got me interested in digital media and journalism in general was when I was abroad with the Peace Corps, I started my own blog and it was just a personal narrative storytelling of my experiences that I could share with my friends and family. And it was very relieving for me. I really enjoyed that experience and to be able to share that story across that platform and then to take that with the Our Town Reno experience where it's not my experience that I'm sharing, but somebody else's, I realized the value in that. And one of my favorite questions that I would always ask and I would always finish pretty much every interview with this question was what would your message be to the community? What do you want the city of Reno to know about your experience?

And man, just, those are some golden nuggets of just, like I'm getting goosebumps right now just thinking about it. Just the things that people come up with and the messages that they want to share about their experience is just so powerful that I think going forward in my career, I just love the opportunity to share like those golden nuggets stories like that, those messages that bring these communities together, bring people together and remind us of who we are at our core. That to me is really powerful. And I think that's the story that I want to tell as a journalist for most of my career 

Filming a promo spot with Lucia Starbuck (left). Scott has also done promotional interviews with local media to help build Our Town Reno’s traction.

Reporting During a Pandemic

RB: How has the COVID-19 pandemic change, what you've been doing for Our Town Reno, with the homeless community?

SK: So when COVID-19 hit, obviously we couldn't go on the streets as much as we were before, what's always going to probably stick with me is I went in and shot street photography during that stretch of time. And I've never seen a city and it's particularly Reno, just so empty to see like all the casino lights downtown off and closed was heartbreaking. However, what was even more heartbreaking was the fact that there were still people out and those people were people that didn't have anywhere to go. That was something that stuck out to me because with COVID-19, if you have an infection, you have to isolate yourself, right? You have to self quarantine in order to take care of others and yourself and you have to wear a mask, but there were a lot of people out there that didn't even know it was going on.

Because it's hard to keep up with everyday news and what's going on in the community when you don't have much else. You're not as invested in the everyday happenings of society. Of course, we couldn't necessarily go see people and talk to them on the streets. In my role with Our Town Reno, what that shifted to was interviewing various candidates for city, state, and federal positions, elected positions and for the Biggest Little Streets podcast. So in the springtime, all the primary races I was interviewing pretty much all of them. That's also another way that I've really kind of gotten inadvertently involved in city politics. And that was kind of the initial change experience for me working with Our Town Reno. 

I know Lucia covered the Reno Event Center and, you know, kudos to her man for doing that because there was a whole lot going on during that week, that no one really knew what was happening. And she was out there covering that and getting that story out. So I want to give that necessary props to her. The next part of that was this fall. We resumed our street reporting initiatives and you and I wear masks when we go and approach people, Gracie does as well. Just to kind of give that level of respect because these people maybe don't have access to healthcare. We certainly don't want to transmit COVID-19 to them.

Then we did have the experience where you and I approached a woman on the river by Sutro. Her name was Rose. When we first approached her she couldn't understand us because she was hard of hearing, she’s deaf. So she needed to read lips in order to communicate. I did have to remove my mask at that time, I do know some basic sign language, I was able to kind of communicate with her that way. That was also kind of an opportunity to recognize some people with masks, it's just an added difficulty just because she needed to read lips to communicate. And so to have that understanding that will then, and to work with that, I think was a pretty kind of telling experience, obviously from a personal standpoint, I think we should all be wearing masks. I think that's just the reasonable and human oriented thing to do. It's just the respectful thing to do honestly. It's really not that big of a deal in that experience. I think COVID-19 has certainly shown flaws within our society. But I think it's also kind of given us an opportunity to recognize these flaws, recognize these things that we can do better so that we can do things better going forward, especially for a vulnerable community like the homeless community.

Scott interviewing Rico for this story here: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2020/10/2/rico-searching-for-inner-peace-after-the-loss-of-his-brothers

“They’re You and Me”

RB: For our listeners and viewers, we're sad to say that your time with Our Town Reno is coming to an end. We'd like to thank you for all the time and effort that you've put in for our audience sharing these stories. And from a personal level, I'm very grateful to have learned so much from you as a journalist.

SK: So you know I appreciate that. And it's been a pleasure working with you as well. Particularly from the street photography perspective, like what you've put up on the Biggest Little Streets Instagram account, like I think is so cool. So for me what's next, I'll be finishing my graduate degree here, in the next couple of weeks. And after that, I'll be moving back home to Cleveland, Ohio for the time to figure out what my next steps are. I will be looking at a career in multimedia and digital media with a journalism element. Like I said, finding those golden nuggets stories especially those messages to share those powerful messages, to share with the community. I aim to have to be an integral part of what I do going forward. So in what capacity that's going to be in will, you know, time will tell, we'll see how that plays out, but you know, this is this experience and sharing those kinds of golden nuggets to, to bring a community together will definitely be a part of my life and my career going forward.

RB: So in closing here with us, what message would you like to share with Our Town Reno and their audience, our audience?

SK: So, man, speaking of those golden nuggets, I don't know if I have one here. We'll see. So man, what I just want people to know is that I want people to recognize the humanity of these individuals on the street. These are mothers, these are fathers, these are grandparents, these are children, they're you and me. It's so easy to just slap a label on that and just attribute that their struggle is due to, you know, personal decisions. When really, if you just took the time to learn their name and hear their story you'd be amazed at the circumstances that led that, put them in the position that they are today. What I think my message to the city of Reno and people everywhere, particularly as it relates to the homeless community is I want them to take the time to shake their hand, obviously with COVID-19 you may have to change that concept, but when it's safe again, for sure learn their names, that something as simple as learning their name and a handshake goes a very, very long way.

So one of the things that they really talk about a lot is the isolation that they feel the neglect, the out they're just kind of left on the fringes of society quite literally. So something as simple as taking the time to learn their name, introduce yourself, shake their hand, give them that respect that human element of respect and just to hear their story and share that empathy with them. This world has, I think, lost track of it's the value in sharing empathy with one another. And you know, COVID-19 particularly has created an opportunity for us to recognize that and bring that back into our life. And this is a crucial moment in society and history. I think to bring empathy back into the equation and how society functions and operates and, you know, creating a solution for homelessness is like I said, very complex.

It's not going to be done overnight, but if we bring that empathy back into the equation, we recognize these people as people, as humans, with stories, with families, with friends and not as criminals, not as any of these labels or stereotypes that we place on them. I think we can go a long way in supporting each other and bringing empathy and bring love back into the equation. So I would just say, learn their names when it's safe, again, shake their hands and, you know, give them that respect because they deserve that because man, they're just like you and me.

Interview by Richard Bednarski with Scott King for Our Town Reno

Elaine Voigt, Helping Reentry into the Community with My Journey Home

From Personal Pain to Helping Others

Elaine Voigt says her son went to prison for defending her against an abusive husband. He was fifteen years old at the time and, what could have been a charge for juvenile domestic violence instead became eleven years in prison for assault on a police officer, attempted murder of a police officer, and driving without a license.

“I came out of the laundry room with a basket of clothes,” Voigt says, “and my husband was upset that dinner wasn't on the table, and he cold cocked me and broke my nose.” She said that her son, after seeing what happened, fought back and drove his mom to the emergency room. When they arrived, Voigt says her son was arrested on site and his life turned upside down. 

This is the reason why Voigt says she created My Journey Home twelve years ago. Its mission is to provide understanding to those who have been left behind when a loved one goes to prison as well as facilitating reintegration for ex-felons back into the community.   She says she’s been able to help thousands and thousands among the formerly incarcerated, from helping them with resumes to clearing outstanding warrants .

These days, she spends her time in a small office in downtown Reno, continuously helping others. On a recent fall morning, a handful of people milled around, checking emails and eating cookies she provided, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. “If they're locked up for any amount of time they have a mark on their shoulder,” Voigt said. People “don’t want to hire them.” She realizes there are issues with the legal system that do not help ex-felons when they enter back into the community. 

Richard Burton was waiting to use one of the computer’s and brewing coffee. He is grateful and glad there are organizations like My Journey Home to help him reintegrate back into the community.

From Coffee to Resumes, Jobs and Housing

Being the sole employee of My Journey Home, Voigt is able to help many ex-felons with things obtaining identification as well as getting their Social Security cards. Voigt also does not think twice about using her phone number and email address as placeholders allowing ex-felons to navigate through the process of reintegrating into society. 

She says she has helped over 12,000 people and does not take any salary herself. Her organization is primarily funded by a ticket-to-work program which supports Social Security disability beneficiaries. Through this program and funding, she is able to get ex-felons who are trying to get back on their feet including some who are homeless a job. Voight recently helped a woman with MS who had previously been an auditor get a job with a casino and an apartment. Her doctor said her MS immediately got better.

Through her organization, they are sometimes able to jump the hurdles society puts in their way, find work and a home. “They’re paying taxes, they’re paying into the community,” Voigt said of her success stories. “They’re invested in the community, they’re not going to take from it.”

The affordable housing crisis here in Northern Nevada has worsened many people’s plight. “The biggest hurdle we find is that they can’t pay the deposit,” Voigt said. She is working with the City of Reno on a new program where the deposit on an apartment can be waived for a My Journey Home client and the application fees reimbursed if someone has a job and can afford the monthly rent.

She says she helped someone else who had been wrongly denied Section 8 housing due to a DUI, which was more than seven years ago, and wasn’t a drug charge. “Sometimes, they just need someone to step in for them,” Voight said.

She says she works every day to get people who have made mistakes but are now improving themselves, to get back on the right track and become functional members of the community. Previous clients who can now hire people in their jobs now turn to her current clients with offers for drivers or warehouse workers.

“We all make mistakes,” Voigt said, but “if we can get everybody in the community doing positive stuff, it’s going to be a positive community.”

Reporting by Richard Bednarski for Our Town Reno

Colder Weather Makes Businesses More Wary of Nearby Encampments

Fires and More Security

As colder weather descends upon us, business owners are looking to spend more time updating their security and locking up while those without stable shelter look for somewhere warm to spend the nights, and sometimes start their own fires.

This leads to accusations that their fires are causing destruction, financial loss and safety issues.

“ The fire started around 8 am and ran for about 30 minutes, luckily it only took out a few tables and a small shed with nothing in it,” Geddy Fisk said of a recent incident at his warehouse worksite in Sparks near the Wild Island Water Park. “If it hit the shipping container full of gas tanks we would be looking at a bigger loss than a few hundred dollars.” 

Geddy asked for his place of work to remain nameless. It sits next to railroad tracks on more than three acres of land. The fire took place at the farthest corner of the land and only took out a few small items. As the fire department came to put out a few embers glowing, Geddy said he was told it was a homeless camp that caught on fire due to high wind and a small campfire. Cans of Vienna sausages and bottles of Mountain Dew laid among what was left of the fire. 

“We have started locking the cars at night and making sure we have  extra security cameras and alarms set during the colder time of the year,” John Williams a co-worker of Geddy said of extra precautions. “ We've had many times where we jump into a car in the morning to go out on the job and find chip bags, and water bottles that weren’t there the day before.”

The cameras not only are used to protect merchandise within the business but to keep an eye on the street where the employees park. “This street … seems to have had an influx of break-ins and the cameras are more of a precaution to keep our employees safe,” he said.

With colder weather, the Reno Hope bus has gone back to collecting donations and distributing them to those in need.

Perceptions of a Warehouse Owner and a Panhandler

Bryan Gregory a local warehouse owner in a nearby area of Sparks said he’s had his own challenges. “ We had a problem of having spare metals and batteries stolen by people looking to make a quick dollar,” he said.

Gregory said he recently spent a few thousand dollars to put in a 12-foot fence and lined it with barbed wire and a new security system to keep warehouse supplies secure.

“I don’t know who is stealing at the end of the day, but the tents on the other side of the tracks doesn't help the perception of the community that lives in them. It seems easy for people to come to conclusions as they are so close to the businesses at night,” he said.  

Tim Doss, a junk haul entrepreneur, who runs the Reno Hope Bus which hands out gently used clothes to the homeless community in the area, is back to using Facebook to organize donation drives and drop offs.

“I lost my wallet and that made me lose everything, the only thing I own right now is my backpack, this sign, and my sweet bike over there,” Keith said, one of those who could benefit from the Hope Bus initiative.

Keith, who sleeps in a tent in the area, asked for his picture to not be taken. “ I know homeless people get a bad rap for stealing things but I believe I'm being looked after if I do the right thing,” he said. “All I do is take my posts every day and ask for food or money, I never steal and I feel as if this is the only legal thing I can do,” he added on why he panhandles.

Keith carts around his backpack, his green bike, and usually a two-liter bottle of pineapple Fanta.

“ I’m not too worried. I have plenty of clothes back in my tent that I've found or collected, and I always give back when I have too many clothes,” he said of colder weather.

Keith hopes for his life to be back on track as soon as he gets another license. “ As soon as the DMV gets me my license I can start applying for jobs, and get a place to live that's not a small yellow tent on the tracks, and hopefully get started again on life,” he said.

Reporting by Andrew Gardner shared with Our Town Reno

Staying Greener, One Coffee Shop in Reno at a Time

Caught Between Coffee, Saving Our Planet and COVID-19

Staying green should be a priority, especially with how our world is right now.  As a coffee consumer and a person who deeply cares about our environment, I found this topic close to my heart.  As a person who is both an environmentalist and coffee enthusiast, I have found myself feeling guilty and struggling when trying to order a drink that comes in a plastic cup.  So, I decided to head into some of Reno’s most beloved coffee shops around the city to see how my local community was staying green.  From not using plastic to composting, JoStella Coffee Company, Coffeebar Reno and Reno Coffee Company did not disappoint.  

During COVID, a lot has changed.  One of those things being coffee shops.  The American culture that we have created of doing homework, work or hosting a meeting in a coffee shop has come to a halt.  Coffee shops have taken precautions to reduce the spread of the virus in an abundance of different ways, while also keeping in mind the environment.  One coffee shop may eliminate the use of reusable cups for the time being while another may only provide a to-go option. 

 So, how do some of our favorite Reno coffee shops stay green?  And how have they stayed green during the pandemic?

JoStella Coffee Company’s logo on their wall in their Midtown shop.

From Pasta Stirs to Recycling at JoStella Coffee Company 

Located in the heart of Midtown, JoStella Coffee Company is a favorite in the city.  They try their best to stay green in every way that they can.  

Owner Kayla Sisson, explained to me how staying green isn’t always easy, though. “Staying green is hard because it is so expensive, which I wish it wasn’t,” she saod. “A lot of the already recycled cups are super expensive which I feel like they shouldn’t be.”

However, that hasn’t stopped JoStella from trying their absolute best to help out the planet. They stay green in a couple of different ways.  For starters, JoStella tries its best to use minimal plastic.  Since a lot of customers don’t want or need a straw, they ask if someone needs a straw before handing them their drink.  Another cool thing JoStella does, in order to reduce plastic use, is they use pasta stirs.  They even recycle any milk cartons or boxes they get.  

Sisson explains how she’s trying to even further the company’s help of staying green by coming up with more ideas to help out the planet.  One idea she has thought of implementing is lids with no straws.

“To me, it’s important because I want my kids and generations after us to have a planet.  A healthy planet,” Sisson said.

When it comes to COVID, Sisson has found a way to reduce the spread of the virus while also reducing the use of our “throw-away” culture.  

At JoStella, they are still using for here mugs, which is when you can go into the shop and ask to drink your beverage there.  JoStella uses a sanitizer to soak each mug and properly clean the mugs after an individual has used one.  This way they can kill all of the germs and keep the planet healthy.  “To give back to the planet so the planet lives on forever. We just do the best that we can,” Sisson said.  

Coffeebar Reno’s recyclable cup from reCUP.

From Recyclable Cups to Avoiding Plastic

Coffeebar Reno was next on the stop of coffee shops around town.  The Italian style coffee shop has done a lot to make sure they can stay green as well.    Coffeebar Reno uses paper cups, paper straws and they compost.

 “With the awareness of the daily footprint coffee shops leave behind, we do our best to minimize that through sustainable business practices including responsibly sourcing our coffee, partnering with local farms and businesses, and giving back our coffee grounds and food waste to the farms to feed the soil,” the Coffeebar website reads.  

 The Coffeebar’s recyclable cups are very earth friendly.  They use a brand called reCUP that is made with EarthCoating®.  The cup is designed to be recyclable and it uses 40% less plastic than conventional poly-coated cups.  

“It’s sad watching the world wither away, and if there’s something anyone could do, he tries to,” Barista Mickayla said talking about her boss, the Coffeebar’s founder and CEO, Greg Buchheister.

When it comes to COVID, they unfortunately have stopped using their glass cups when customers come in and enjoy a drink in the shop.  However, with their recyclable cups they are still doing their absolute best to make this world a better place. “It takes just little things to make a big difference,” Mickayla said.

Over on Wells Ave., the Reno Coffee Company is right there with the rest of the world while trying to make a difference. 

“We don’t use plastic cups for iced coffees,” said the manager Melissa Jennings. “We don’t use plastic stoppers for the cups, and we also don’t use sleeves.  Those are all pretty crazy for coffee houses, but we just find that they aren’t necessary and just end up right in the ocean or they’re just not recyclable.  The biodegradable cups don’t really degrade so we just stay away from it. So, all of our cups are paper.”

A huge bonus with Reno Coffee Company is that through COVID it has been one of the rare coffee places to figure out how to keep using reusable cups.  

“If you want to use a reusable, we still use it,” Jennings said. “We just don’t let customers give us the lids. They have to take off the lid themself.  Usually, the people who do use reusable cups, sanitize them down before they give it to us.”

This has been a customer relief.  Customers can officially go get their favorite cup of coffee while still knowing they are doing their best to keep the planet green.   

“A lot of the time it is more cost effective,” Jennings said of being planet conscious. “ It is just a small step to do it, for the planet.  Poor thing is dying, and we are trying to do the littlest things we can.”

As a customer and consumer, I have had to try my best to stay green when it comes to coffee shops.  I have felt guilty when grabbing a to-go coffee.  Knowing my local coffee shops are helping in any way, shape or form that they can is very relieving and great to know. 

Reporting by Lauren Turner for Our Town Reno